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Sen. Joe Griffo, R-Rome, has introduced a bill that would adjust the way the state responds to Freedom of Information Law requests for handgun permits — recently the subject of much controversy due to the appearance, disappearance and reappearance of a database containing that information on whospackingny.com.

As Rick Karlin has reported, the site appeared in June but took down its database after a few weeks. Instead, it began redirecting visitors to a lifestyles Web site run by a former enemy of Assemblyman Greg Ball that discussed recent reports about allegations that Ball groped a waitress at an Albany nightspot. In a news release, Ball — now running for state Senate — had taken partial credit for the site’s partial demise; he’s pushing a bill that would close the permit records to everyone except law enforcement officials.

Within the past two weeks, whospackingny.com’s handgun permit database came back on line.

Griffo’s bill would make it impossible to access the pistol permits en masse, although you would still be able to request information on an individual permit (e.g. “Does John Doe have a pistol permit? No? How about John Doehn? No? How about John Doerr?” etc.).

Here’s the bill’s explanation:

A new abuse of the public access to New York State’s pistol or revolver permit registry now exists due to the creation of websites on the Internet that contain the name and address of every person in the State of New York who holds a permit for a pistol or revolver.

As in 1994, the last time this law was amended, there are important personal and public safety reasons to make amendments to the information available to the public regarding the pistol or revolver automated listing maintained by the New York State Police. As the law is currently written, it allows for an individual to make a FOIL request through the New York State Police or the New York City Police for the entire database of pistol or revolver holders in the State and in NYC. In fact, the Director of Public Information for the New York State Police has stated that numerous requests have been made in recent years for the entire database and they have had no choice but to release the information under current law. Having this information available online and readily accessible to anyone creates serious safety issues not only for the permit holders and their family members but also for individuals who do not have guns in their home. Criminals now have a roadmap of the homes that have guns and those that do not. This can be easily utilized to target homes to steal the pistol or revolver from the person’s address that is listed on the permit. Not only does this possibly put guns in the hands of dangerous individuals but it also creates the chance of the permit holder or a family member being harmed during an attempted robbery. Also disturbing is the fact that having this list available not only tells criminals where legally owned handguns are located but it also tells them which homes are not protected by a person with a pistol permit. This is once again a roadmap for individuals who want to break into someone’s home to either commit a robbery, assault, rape or other heinous crime without having to worry that their intended victim possesses any firepower to ward off the attack. Clearly, this information in the wrong hands creates a risk to not only the permit holders and their families but also to their neighbors and the rest of society. The threat of guns being stolen or individuals being harmed due to the public access of this entire list is too menacing to allow it to continue. Therefore, this legislation will limit the ability of a person to access the NYS or NYC permit or revolver registry by denying requests for the entire list or database. However, recognizing that some individuals may have a valid reason for wanting to know if a specific person has a firearm permit, this legislation still allows for public access with a FOIL request. Consequently, to rule out the intentional abuse of the public access and posting of an entire database or geographic area of permit holders, this bill will only allow a search of the list with a request for a specifically named individual. New York is among about one-third of states nationwide that allow the disclosure of any pistol permit data.

Griffo was not immediately available for comment. Filed on Friday, the bill has been referred to the Rules committee; with the chamber in Democratic hands, don’t miss too many meals waiting for this one to come to the floor.

Robert J. Freeman, executive director of the state Committee on Open Government, said the bill would make it difficult to use handgun data for demographic purposes, and would roll back the trend of technology making it easier for the public to reap the benefits of FOIL.

“Any time a license or permit is conferred by the government, it’s supposed to be public,” Freeman said. The purpose of the permit or license, he added, is to demonstrate to the public that the recipient has met the prerequisites of the state.

To the bill language’s presumption of peril to homeowners identified as handgun owners (or non-handgun owners), Freeman notes that the permit leaves plenty of information out of the hands of would-be burglars — such as what type of weapon might or might not be on the premises (maybe not a handgun — but what about a shotgun or a hunting rifle, which outside of NYC requires no permit?), where they might be stored (“Awright, Louie, you start in the laundry room and I’ll check in the attic”), and — possibly most important — whether any or all of the people in the house know how to properly handle their artillery in the event of a break-in.

“I don’t know of any proof indicating that disclosure of pistol license records has created either harm or jeopardy,” Freeman said.

FOIL, he noted, does not refer to “invasion of privacy” but to “unwarranted invasion of personal privacy” — a different standard that balances the effects of the disclosure on the individual against the potential public benefit of the information being available.

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